Do Physicians Smoke Weed?

The Medscape Lifestyle Report 2015 found that physicians use cannabis at a significantly lower rate than the general population, but 3 percent of doctors still reported having consumed marijuana in the past year. On average, less than a quarter of physicians have ever smoked weed.

32 percent of doctors from the baby-boomers generation reported cannabis use, the highest of any age group. After them came the under-35 age group, with 25 percent reporting having smoked weed.

The medical specialty with the most stoners was emergency medicine, with 31 percent of those interviewed reporting having consumed cannabis at some point in their life. Plastic surgery and orthopedics tied for second with 29 percent. Nephrologists, or kidney doctors, had the least amount of past cannabis consumers with 15 percent.

The Medscape Lifestyle Report 2015 set out mainly to analyze “burnout” in doctors, which they defined as “loss of enthusiasm for work, feelings of cynicism, and a low sense of personal accomplishment.” Are burned-out doctors more likely to use or have used cannabis? No. Neither alcohol nor marijuana use were associated with burnout. Physicians with the hardest jobs seem to be the most burned out: Critical care and emergency medicine doctors had the highest burnout rates at 53 percent and 52 percent.